Best Head ?

[stanyon]

:help: I am building up a 200 for my 65 truck, I started out with a 200 out of a 82 Zephyr. The head on this engine has a intake log volume of approximately 1,420 cc. I ruined this head while porting it. So now I have a head off a 77 Zephyr with an intake log volume of approximately 1,345 cc. The engine will have a Weber 32/36, street cam Clay Smith, head shaved .60 and the block decked .20. Would I be better off looking for the later head ? is there going to be a noticeable difference in performance between the two options. 75cc of lost volume, but is the flow loss going to be that significant. Thanks for any input.

 

[MPGmustang]

screw the volume, you're already porting, the more power comes from the chamber, which is from even earlier heads, like the 170/144ci kidney bean. but those are way out of luck on air flow. IMO, grab a 250 head from a 69, it will have a large log, and a better chamber than the later heads.

this is what makes the alum head so amazing. it has the high flow you want with the such desired combustion chamber. IMO, the cumbustion chamber is more important than the 'size' of the log. even a older log can still flow decent.

I sunk $1600 into a cast log, getting 143 cfm, for ONLY $500 (which in hind sight, is way cheaper cause I spent time on diagnosing etc..) I could have had 220cfm and a 4bbl flange, WITH so much more power. I maxed out at 145hp at the tires.

take the advice with a grain of salt, if you're gonna do the work yourself, then this mostly means nothing. but if I did it again, or had the opportunity to 're-do', I wouldn't hesitate in getting the alum head. heck, I even want to swap my 5.0 out of my 75 bronco for a 250 with alum head just because!!!

 

[CobraSix]

Well, first determine a budget and what you want to do.

If you want just a bolt on with little investment, the earlier heads will result in a higher CR.

But depending on what you intend to do, You may find that you are only $300-$500 short of stepping up to OZ250-2V head, or even a CI Aluminum head for serious performance gains. Trust me and learn from my failures. Spend the money once on the final upgrade. Otherwise it costs a lot more in the long run.

Regards,

 

[CNC-Dude]

Like CobraSix stated, determine your true goal with the truck and decide your budget. With a log head, the first few hundred bucks you throw at it brings a pretty proportional return, but it goes away quickly once you exceed a certain limit, and then better alternatives should be explored for the money invested. The limitation is always going to be the 1 bbl carb flange regardless of what you do to the engine internally, unless of course you spend more money and then your caught in that cycle of spending more than you get in return.